Joselyn Martinez was 9 when her father was shot and killed outside his New York City restaurant in 1986 .

Nearly three decades later , she may finally see justice for his death . And she has herself to thank .

Her family 's tragedy started on November 22 1986 , when her father , Jose Martinez , had an altercation with a few customers at a restaurant he owned with his wife .

The fight moved outside the restaurant and got physical , according to the New York Police Department . One of the customers , then 16-year-old Justo Santos , allegedly produced a firearm and shot Martinez in the chest .

When Joselyn awoke the next morning , her father was dead .

`` Reading the paper for him in Spanish , '' Joselyn said of her favorite memories of her father . `` He would tell me to read the paper for him , and I would sit with him and read the paper in Spanish . ''

Case closed

After the killing , the NYPD received information that Santos had run to the Dominican Republic and was incarcerated there for murder , and the case was closed in 1988 , NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said .

A year after Santos was imprisoned , he was released from the Dominican Republic prison . But the New York case remained closed .

`` They should not have closed the case , '' NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Tuesday . '' -LRB- It -RRB- should have been looked at to see if there was additional information as to whether or not he was out of jail . ''

Martinez grew up and eventually went to school to study law and Latin American studies , a path she later left for a career as a singer and actress , she says .

Law lessons

In one of her law classes , she learned that there were no statutes of limitation on homicides . She decided to take another look at her father 's case .

About 10 years after the shooting , she said , she went to the NYPD 's 34th precinct . But she was told that the case was closed and the suspect had fled .

`` You let it go , but not really , '' she said . `` Because November comes around , when is the anniversary of his death , and I just get upset . ''

In 2006 , inspired by a book , Martinez wrote down a list of things that were bothering her .

`` I said well , I put that in there , '' she said about never finding her father 's killer .

`` And I was nervous about it because I was like , ` wow , once I write it I have to admit it . ' And I hated admitting it because that meant that I was going to have to live with the possibility of this not coming about . ''

` Do n't ever forget that name '

But Martinez scoured the Internet , reading stories and using MySpace , among other sites , to look for Santos .

She saved pictures and information she thought could lead to Santos ' discovery . Martinez said she spent less than $ 300 on sites that conduct background checks to find his current location .

`` My family told me , do n't ever forget that name , '' she said .

In November last year , Martinez went looking for her father 's file in the 34th precinct cold case division . And in January , she went back to the police chief at the precinct and presented her case .

She worked with police and they eventually located Santos in Miami . He was arrested and detained by Miami-Dade Police on Thursday , and police sources said he confessed to Jose Martinez 's slaying .

New York detectives are in Miami and plan to bring Santos back to New York on Friday .

The arrest would never have happened without her , according to the NYPD .

`` She 's the person most responsible for finding her father 's killer , '' Browne said . `` She did outstanding work . ''

Martinez said the police were quick to respond to the information she gathered and were extremely helpful when she went to them .

`` It took a team effort , '' Martinez said .

Her mother , Idalia Martinez , beamed with pride after the arrest .

`` I am thankful to God and to my daughter for never resting and did n't care for how many years , '' she said .

Cold case : Evidence in killing of former beauty queen points to ex-priest

@highlight

Her family 's tragedy started in November 1986

@highlight

Her father , Jose Martinez , had an altercation with customers at his restaurant

@highlight

One of the customers , then 16-year-old Justo Santos , allegedly produced a firearm and killed him